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To: Keith in Iowa
You sound as if once corn is used for ethanol, there's nothing else left...

Absolutely untrue. Go back and read my post, and the study I quote. You will find that I do take into account coproducts of corn ethanol production. And I rely on a sound energy comparison methodology that compares apples to apples.

I simply stated in my post that sugarcane based ethanol fuel in Brazil is more economical to produce than corn based ethanol fuel in the United States. That's because sugarcane produces a much higher quantity of ethanol per acre at a lower production energy. Also, it's much easier and more efficient to make ethanol from the higher glucose concentration sugars in sugarcane than higher fructose concentration sugars in corn. It's just a basic fact of organic chemistry. Finally, the energy in ethanol (and any farmed fuel) originates from the sun. Brazil gets a lot more sun than the United States, and therefore more farmable energy.

This isn't an arguement against ethanol, it's an arguement against the flawed use of Brazil as an example to promote ethanol fuel use in the United States.

94 posted on 06/25/2005 10:09:56 PM PDT by pillbox_girl
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To: pillbox_girl; _Jim

See #83 above...


96 posted on 06/25/2005 10:30:29 PM PDT by Keith in Iowa (Life's a beach - and Liberals are like the sand that gets in your swimsuit...)
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